San Antonio College Library

"Conundrums, puzzles, and perversities: these are Leo Katz's stock-in-trade, and in Why the Law Is So Perverse, he focuses on four fundamental features of our legal system, all of which seem to not make sense on some level and to demand explanation. First, legal decisions are essentially made in an either/or fashion--guilty or not guilty, liable or not liable, either it's a contract or it's not--but reality is rarely as clear-cut. Why aren't there...

"Landmark cases that shaped the Constitution."--Jacket subtitle. Includes the full text of the Constitution.

"In the wake of the colossal acts of terrorism of the last decade, the legal historian and human rights lawyer Sadakat Kadri realized that many people in the West had ideas about the origins and implications of the shari'a, or Islamic law, that were hazy, contradictory, or simply wrong. Even as "shari'a" became a loaded word and an all-encompassing explanation, most of us remained ignorant of its true meaning. And we were doing this at our peril....

This book explains how the debate over originalism emerged from the interaction of constitutional theory, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and American political development. Refuting the contention that originalism is a recent concoction of political conservatives like Robert Bork, Johnathan O'Neill asserts that recent appeals to the origin of the Constitution in Supreme Court decisions and commentary, especially by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence...

"Over the nearly four decades it has been in print, Reason in Law has established itself as the place to start for understanding legal reasoning, a critical component of the rule of law. This ninth edition brings the book's analyses and examples up to date, adding new cases while retaining old ones whose lessons remain potent. It examines recent controversial Supreme Court decisions, including rulings on the constitutionality and proper interpretation...

"In exploring the neglected art of statutory interpretation, Antonin Scalia urges that judges resist the temptation to use legislative intention and legislative history. In his view, it is incompatible with democratic government to allow the meaning of a statute to be determined by what the judges think the lawgivers meant rather than by what the legislature actually promulgated. Eschewing the judicial law-making that is the essence of common law,...

What role should the Senate play in the selection and confirmation of judges? What criteria should be used to evaluate nominees? What kinds of questions and answers are appropriate in confirmation hearings? What problems do judges face as they interpret laws enacted by Congress? And what kinds of communications are proper between judges and legislators? Drawing on the world of scholarship and from personal experience, Robert A. Katzmann examines governance...